Pat's of Henderson rec's - Lake Charles - UPDATE with reveiw

I haven't been in years but I'm going for a relative's birthday tonight. What do they do well? TIA

ETA:

I've heard for a while that Pat's had gone downhill. Well let me start by saying that last night's meal was excellent. Let me start at the beginning.

I was meeting some people from out of town and arrived before they did. First, the place is decorated really well for the Christmas season and not tacky at all. I ordered a Glenlivet 12 year neat and got at least 3 fingers worth for $6. Solid start to the night.

For an app I got the crawfish bisque. Dark, rich, and full of LA crawfish tails. A good amount of spice that didn't overpower. And they serve it with a stuffed head. This bisque was done right

For my entree I ordered the seafood platter with a stuffed potato. The oysters, stuffed crab, crawfish gumbo, and frog leg were the stars here. That's not to say the shrimp and catfish filet weren't good though. Everything tasted fresh and was fried perfectly. The stuffed crab is something that usually doesn't get my attention, but this one had good chunks of crabmeat and a lot of flavor. It also came with a salad. Nothing out of this world, but all the ingredients were fresh and crisp, which is good enough for me.

I was also able to taste someone's stuffed redfish and stuffed catfish. Both tasted fantastic and were served with drawn butter.

The worst part of the meal, by far, was the stuffed potato. It came topped with a barely melted slice of American cheese. It wasn't bad once I removed the cheese though.

All in all, I'd definitely recommend Pat's to anyone looking for a solid Cajun restaurant. I know I'm gonna have lunch there in the coming weeks to get more of that bisque

I haven't been to the one in LC, but the crawfish bisque in Henderson is always good when I have it. It doesn't get the love it should for a decent fried and boiled seafood joint in my experience. Wouldn't call it excellent, but I enjoy eating there. I like the crabmeat au gratin, but without the cheese on top. Fried stuff is all pretty good.

The fried seafood platters are pretty good as well as the stuffed snapper. I don't care for Pat's as a whole at all though and think it is overrated.

The étouffée is horrible. I ordered the asparagus salad once and it was a few jarred asparagus on a bed of lettuce.

Another time I ordered the Tuna rare and the waiter laughed at me, asked if I was sure. Of course I was. Guess how it was when it came out? Cooked all the way through.

Yet another time I ordered the gumbo with potato salad. Gumbo was fine, but the potato salad was a half of an uncooked potato with just a little potato salad covering it to make it look like it was a full serving of potato salad.

I've known the family that owns it for just about my entire life. Good people, but they really need to hire a professional chef to come in and change up some of the recipes.

As to why I've been there so much after all the disappointments, it's my parents favorite restaurant.

I do enjoy the bar and having a few beers with raw oysters in there, but it is not on my list of places to go when I want to eat cajun or seafood. Chastain's, Seafood Palace, and Mazen's fill those spots.

quote:The worst part of the meal, by far, was the stuffed potato. It came topped with a barely melted slice of American cheese. It wasn't bad once I removed the cheese though.

LOL. That's why I said to order the crabmeat au gratin sans the cheese. Comes the same way, but it's good after the cheese is gone.

Glad you had a good meal. In spite of what some folks say here, I think the Henderson restaurant is a solid Cajun/seafood joint. I've always had a good meal and I love their crawfish bisque. It's very much like Bon Ton's.